A nice quiet few days planned but.........

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Monday 31st July 2017

Well that's July almost over, where did that month go? Been here almost two months now and seems we have done a lot in that time, so now we think we have a few quieter days with not a lot happening. Walk with Kilroy first thing and home by 7:30am for the usual quiet hour sat out on the back patio, just enjoying the silence and a healthy breakfast! A quick visit to Sah supermarket as we had run out of spuds, vital ingredient as tonight we are having home made chips with our supper. Sarah had also spotted some flip flops to replace the very thin, tired ones that John was wandering around wearing. Had a good look around the supermarket - it's a bit like a Waitrose in the U.K. with a good deli, cake and wine section. We prefer Supreme for most of our shopping, the prices are slightly cheaper and the staff really friendly, however Sah is worth going to just to compare, plus they do stock a wider range of items and the wine section is larger! One area where Sah does win is that they do have a full recycling system in place, similar to the large skips found in supermarket car parks back home. Home and unpacked before a chill with a book. After his walk; Kilroy was feeling a bit off colour and didn't fancy his breakfast, we think it was his worming tablets he had last night and has decided to have a duvet day. We did buy him some chicken livers which we have cooked up for him so hopefully he will regain his hunger and feel a little better this evening.

Late afternoon and a call from Orhan our painter, decorator, etc - kitchen installer arriving tomorrow to start work along with his painting team! Arghhhhhh!! The planned quiet week has just run over the horizon with its arse on fire ?. That call sort of focused our minds for the rest of the afternoon. Firstly a quick WhatsApp to our neighbour, Sue - could she rescue us by letting us remove our stuff and decamp into her place. Thanks Sue! A busy couple of hours as we emptied cupboards and moved items next door but by 6pm we were finished. Just curtains to take down but as they are so high up will wait painters arrive and ask them to help. Celebratory cups of tea and think the rest of this week will be a bit confusing for dogs and humans, but once it's done it will look so much better. Took Kilroy with us for a little stroll at around 7pm as the temperature had dropped a little not to far as he is obviously not right. Back home for a shower, cold glass of cider and relax. Kilroy ate his supper tonight of biscuits and chicken livers, let's see how he is feeling tomorrow. For us humans it was sausages chips beans and egg - unhealthy but just had to be done! We had after all used up a lot of calories moving furniture and emptying cupboards out. Supper enjoyed it was time to settle down to a bit of a catchup on some old tv series before retiring off to bed.

Tuesday 1st August 2017

Awake just after 5am, no idea why but maybe subconsciously we were aware that today is the kitchen refurb start and wanted to make sure we were prepared! Took Kilroy for his morning walk and back home to finish moving the last few kitchen items into Sue's place next door. Sarah did a bit of googling and we think we may now know why the hound is a bit hang dog, seemingly chewing the leaves on an hibiscus plant causes sickness and diarrhoea! Kilroy loves to tuck into them. Pets; who would have them, he is now banned from going anywhere near the plant. He still isn't 100% so decided that we would not feed him and maybe try some boiled rice or pasta as his next meal. He seemed ok on his walk earlier but anyone who has had a dog can tell when the animal is not right and he just isnt his normal bouncy self. Will see if he improves and if he still a bit peaky tomorrow we will pop him down to visit the vet. A quick cup of tea then a shower as we wait for workmen to arrive. Whatever progress is made today will dictate if we fully decamp and sleep in Sues tonight and wether we can do any cooking etc but we think it could be a couple of Supreme meals of the day on the menu.

John received information from his brother about employing carers to help their Dad following his stroke and hopefully they will start in the next week or two on a months trial and all being well they will be contracted for a longer term afterwards. From our experiences to date it really is a bit of a lottery as to whether they are going to meet the requirements of the client. We have decided to go to a couple of independant carers rather than a big company as they appear to not only be able to attend at the times we want but are more flexible. Also following the sale of our place last year we are tracking our latest planning application, this morning there appeared to be an update posted on the East Devon portal about our application for a log cabin granny annexe in Ben's garden - we did take a look but could not see anything significant but asked our agent to check. Statutory expiry date is 11th August so we should get some feedback soon. Won't comment further but just to say our planning authority are not the easiest or most helpful to deal with.

Bang on 9am and the tradesmen have all rocked up. Straight into action.......firstly discussed moving an electric socket - no problem, then fitting new gas hob, no problem, confirmed the choice of colours which will be mainly white and a couple of areas painted cream. Then the painting team started covering all the furniture etc whilst the kitchen man set to task. No hanging around with this lot that's for sure! By 10:30am tiles were removed, painters were bashing out areas of the wall which were showing some damp corrosion, removing old hooks, breaking up old plaster, filling cracks and preparing surfaces with the temperature rising all the time and by midday had hit 37C. They did take our curtains and blind down in the lounge which we were wondering how we would get down as they are about a 6mtr drop from the ceiling. Sarah hot footed it off to the launderette to get them cleaned whilst we had the opportunity. She also made the executive decision to pick up a couple of meals of the day from Supreme. The afternoon was spent reading and watching a lot of old documentaries and tv series on our tablets as we wanted to be around if our workmen needed to ask us anything, plus we could keep a watch on Kilroy. Finally the workmen called it a day at 5:30pm, they will be back at around 8:30am tomorrow. Orhan gave us a quick update - tiles removed, preparation work progressing, electrics nearly completed. Some more prep work tomorrow and then carpenter can come and fit new kitchen/tiling and looks like painters will be in Thurs/Fri. The team have certainly cracked on today. We decided after looking at what had been done that we could still sleep in our bedroom tonight which is a bonus!

Once things had cooled a little we took the dog for a short walk around the block, he has been sleepy today but seemed a little better but will stick with the 24hr no food regime and see how he is tomorrow morning. Once the walk was done we made room in the bedroom so as we had a place to sleep, then showered, changed and relaxed on the balcony. Supper was the Supreme meal of the day, rice with the veggie option plus some fresh bread.

Wednesday 2nd August 2017

Awake at our normal time, dressed and off for our usual walk. Buddy was home from his holidays so picked him up on the way and set off down the hill. Mr Buddy dog must have checked in to an all inclusive "eat as much as you want from the buffet" hotel for his hols as he had definately put on a few pounds. He had a waist a week ago, now he has a muffin top! Oh well we are sure that once he gets back into his fitness regime he will soon be able to fit into those speedos again. Just under an hour later and we were back home, for a quick shower and cups of tea whilst we waited for the tradesmen to arrive for day 2 of mini refurb. Kilroy had a light breakfast of boiled rice this morning after his 24hr fast - it may have been a bit boring but he ate it all up and seems brighter. At 8:30am as promised the workmen were back - a quick check on what was to be done today and they set to action. We did add a couple of minor jobs to there list which was to check our outside power socket was wired in following yesterday's electrical work, replace a small part of our metal pigeon spikes on the roof (This was left off when Orhan and his team painted the outside of our place earlier this year) and touch up a couple of areas of external paintwork. For us the morning panned out much the same as yesterday with us both sat on the garden patio with a good book whilst the workers toiled on indoors. Sarah was planning to pop down to church this morning as she had a couple of jobs to do but as she could not get any joy from the water delivery man she decided not to bother. We again picked up a Supreme special for supper - this time it was rice with a mixed bean dish - we will eat after we return from the Wednesday quiz night. Our neighbours at the end of our row are today having their roof water tank replaced so lots of crashing and banging whilst this job gets done. Also received an email from Kyrenia Animal Rescue with some info for us about Kilroys travel arrangements. Crate has to be made for him to travel in, this can be done a month or so beforehand, all his paperwork coming together, needs a photo - best give him a wash and brush up (!), recommend we get his injections all up to date as much cheaper here than UK. Planned flight date is 14th Nov, the same day as us. He will be flying Turkish Airlines Ercan - Istanbul - Heathrow whilst we will fly Larnaca - Heathrow on Aegean Air. We are overnighting at Heathrow so all being well we can collect him on the 15th.

The afternoon went the way of most of the morning with a continuation of the book reading, watching some documentaries and drinking tea! Kilroy seems a lot better today so hopefully he has got over his 24hr bug. Yesterday he was so tired but could not get comfortable whereas today he is enjoying his snoozing uninterrupted. Will give him another portion of boiled rice tonight, plus just a few biscuits and a couple of small pieces of chicken liver. Orhan gave us an update just as they were leaving this evening, prep work just about finished now, there were a lot of cracks that needed filling and also some of the original build works from 12 years ago were not finished off correctly - but now sorted. Tomorrow it looks like kitchen will be fitted, tiling started and also painting as well. We are telling ourselves that these few days of upheaval and inconvenience will be worth it. About 5:30pm John took Kilroy for a short stroll around the block, whilst Sarah showered and changed for the quiz night. A good quiz this evening, finished in 3rd place. Home by 9pm for our supper and a quick walk for Kilroy before bed.

Thursday 2nd August 2017

Apparently July was the hottest month in Cyprus for 30yrs and we can well believe it. However the forecast is for temperatures to drop a little from Friday onwards down to around 34C, they have even suggested rain in the mountains! ? We doubt that very much, possibly up in the Troodos range but we think unlikely on the mountains just above our place. We will welcome things becoming just a little cooler tho. Kilroy is definitely back to his normal self, bouncing around as we came downstairs this morning and full of energy, in fact to much energy as we had not woken up yet. The walk with the dogs this morning was up our usual track to the goat farm and then down into the ravine to join the road to nowhere and carry on up into the mountain where it comes to a dead end, turnaround and all downhill home. Breakfast and decide what to do for the day. In the end we thought best not stray to far as it's kitchen fit out so probably need to be around in case but do need to collect curtains from the launderette a little later and pick up a bag of compost/soil as we have managed to grow a water melon from seeds we threw into our herb pot. They need transplanting. Plus Sarah was thinking about maybe getting some plants to put in our tubs along our front balcony. At 8:15am Orhan and the team are here, we just managed to get in and out of the shower before they arrived, could have been embarrassing. They are now smoothing down the fillings they have painstakingly been working on over the last couple of days ready to start painting. Plenty of fine dust drifting in the air, so much so that we moved off our patio area and decamped next door as we were slowly beginning to resemble snowmen. Carpenter due to arrive soon and it will be good to get the kitchen units in and hob that we bought a few weeks installed. After some deliberation we decided that as the washing machine, dishwasher and fridge freezer were all functioning well and that there was no need to replace, however if we do see a bargain via the internet forum then we may well snap it up.

We had a visit from the goats this afternoon, just wandering up the road. We kept a close watch on them to make sure they did not invade the gardens, eventually Kilroy was woken by the bells and after a bit of barking they ran off. By the end of the afternoon, Orhans team managed to get a first coat of paint done throughout the house. They return tomorrow to complete tiling and also apply second coat of paint. Then that should be the painting works mearly done, with just a couple of doors to gloss over. Carpenter and kitchen fitters were here this morning, worktop fitted, sink refitted, hob in place and over half the units and doors completed. Orhan has suggested that they return again Saturday to finish the work, this will allow his team to fix the tiles and also all painting will have been done so everyone will not be working on top of one another. We think that is very sensible. We can start a bit of a tidy around upstairs on Saturday and depending on when the fitters finish the kitchen we can carry on thro. Internet was off most of the day whilst workmen were busy so we did some catch up with emails etc once service was restored - found out that our application to build some form of log cabin in Bens garden had been approved - good news. We are just waiting confirmation from our agent and advice on our next steps - we do have some companies in mind and have researched some designs we like but won't rush things. Around 7:30pm we took Kilroy for his evening stroll and then a quick shower and a game of scrabble, nibbles and sundowners before our pot luck supper. Decided on a jacket potato and a surprise from the freezer, the surprise being it was obviously some left over spaghetti bolognaise or chilli but not sure which! Turns out it's spag bol! Sarah wins the scrabble again - so she is now has two game clear lead. John felt sure he was winning but as Sarah was scorer for this match who knows. A final stroll for Kilroy then off to bed. Tonight we are camping in Sues place as our beds are all covered with dust sheets and we did not want to move stuff around as painters will be with us again first thing.

Friday 4th August 2017

Despite the upheaval Kilroy slept well and at 5:30am we were into our normal morning routine. Low cloud over the mountains and feeling humid as we set off downhill with the dogs, however an hour later the sun had burnt all the clouds away and it was clear blue sky. Home and showered and breafasted before the painters turned up and well into book reading mode. Orhan confirmed how we would like the tiles arranged whilst the rest of his team continued with the painting - second coat today. Our day was spent pottering around doing nothing very much, apart from reading and watching a film. Update from Orhan is that he and his team will be with us again tomorrow, finish off the gloss areas, clean down the new tiles and kitchen fitters also finishing their work. So hopefully tomorrow evening we will have at least sorted our bedroom out and then we can slowly put the furniture in place and all items back in the kitchen.

Quiz night at the Club Tropicana with just 3 of us in the team - did OK and also decided to stay and to eat as well once the quiz had finished. Both of us choosing chicken shish and very good it was to. Home just after 9pm and Kilroy, walked then off to bed.

Saturday 5th August 2017

Low cloud over the mountains which meant moisture in the air made things feel slightly damp. Wake up cup of tea sat on the patio, everywhere in complete silence, no cats, no people a nice way to start the day. Dogs walked, garden chores done and second cuppa finished it was time to await arrival of the workers. Watched with amusement as Kilroy watched a kitten stroll by, he was desperate to jump up and chase it but he may have realised it would be wasted effort so just stared. Bang on 8:30am the workers arrived and started. Little bit of painting to be done and rest of kitchen units to be completed. We also reported a slight leak from our sink, probably the waste pipe which was moved as part of the worktop fitment. We left Kilroy to check the underside of his eyelids whilst we went to do a bit of a shop, firstly the fruit and veg stall, followed by Supreme supermarket and a quick look in Sah supermarket to see what fresh cakes they had - Sarah will pick up tomorrow on her return from church. Last stop was our butcher in Ozankoy village. Back home, unpacked and sat outside reading whilst all the time watching the clouds over the mountain growing darker and then looking towards the coast and seeing bright blue sky. Very strange, although rain is forecast for parts of the island over the weekend.

Today is the opening day of the football season, so time for another 9 months of character building for John and Ben. To make things even more tortuous the game can now be watched live here in Cyprus by buying a matchday pass, so John spent a bit of time setting things up to make sure it would work before committing any money!! Good thing is if it does work and the Posh are doing well then games can be watched, if it's another character building season then instead of watching the game John can do something more exciting like wash his hair!

All plans for watching the footie went out the window as just after 4pm Orhan declared the work of the last 5 days was done. What a great job they have made as well. Really pleased with the redecoration and the new kitchen. On one minor glitch in that one cupboard door slightly to big and has been taken away to be made smaller and will return Monday to fit. Said our farewells to Orhan and his team, we will certainly have them back for any more jobs we may need doing. We donated our old gas hob to one of the lads who had been here all week. He was to shy to ask himself if we wanted it so Orhan asked for him. So now all we have to do is get everything back to normal. Started in the back bedroom and slowly but surely worked our way thro the house. Managed to get all the furniture cleaned down and back in the right place, checked appliances and cleaned out bathroom. By 9pm we were about finished so John took Kilroy for a later than usual walk. Supper was Borek and salad plus a very cold beer! Then time to catch up on football news - a win! Well that rounded the day off nicely. Just after 11pm we collapsed into bed very tired.

Sunday 6th August 2017

Bit hard to get up this morning after our workathon yesterday evening. Cup of tea and decision made that John would do the dog walking so Sarah could start again on phase 2 of operation move back in. An hour later and John returns with Kilroy and it's all hands to the pump to sort things out. A quick breakfast stop, then Sarah headed to church whilst John continued the moving back in. The floors need moping regularly to get rid of all the fine dust following the paint rubbing down. You think you have got rid of it all but it will,take a few days for sure. Sarah back at 1:30pm we both continued working and took the opportunity to clean things down which seemed to have gathered dust for some reason over the time we have been here. At around 2:30 ish much excitement as it started to rain - all things stop to witness this event, the first rain we have seen since we have been here. It was forecast and lasted around 30mins. Warm rain, lovely when your stood in it. Rain gone we continued working and around 4pm we were nearly done - Sarah did some hoovering and mopping (again) indoors whilst John enjoyed himself playing with the hosepipe and cleaning down the front balcony. As a reward for being a good patient dog, Kilroy was also treated to a shampoo - coconut this time. He does like his shower time. Afterwards he dried off in the sunshine before laying down outside on his mat for a good snooze. So it took a while but operation move back in has been done. Anyone who has seen our place may not notice much change, but the painting team really did a great job, they spent two and a bit days just prepping the work, filling cracks, chipping out old blown plaster, refilling and rubbing down. We have kept the traditional white interior and added a splash of cream along the stairs and on the landing - to match the curtains. The kitchen cupboards were all hand made and designed to our (Sarah's!) specification. We now have and extended worktop, more cupboard space and two large drawers for more clutter. So job done. We do have pictures to hang back up, but we are holding off on this for two reasons; no picture hooks and we want to have a think where they will go.

Sarah went and walked Kilroy before it was time for a much welcome shower and scrub down and then a nice chillax as we watched the sun slowly set. A well deserved sundowner was made , Singapore Slings for the both of us. Tonight as a reward we treated ourselves to a lovely piece of steak from our favourite butcher, plus salad and jacket potato.....oh and some dips as well. Plus a great pudding from Sah supermarket. Sarah had lemon cheesecake and it was Chocolate cake thingy for John, plus ice cream. All of this lovely supper was washed down by a nice Italian Prosecco. Perfecto! Quick stroll for Kilroy and then time for us to head up to bed......shattered but happy!

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Photos

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Painting team in action

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Orhan happy in his work

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Cupboards emptied, furniture moved. All in preparation for a mini kitchen refurb and painting. The quiet week doing nothing never materialised!

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Furniture covered.

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Prep work, filling cracks

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All cracks are being sorted!

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Kitchen tiles removed, electric nearly completed. Old kitchen units will be removed in a day or so and new fitted.

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Kilroy offering his expert advice on a small plumbing issue!

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Change of location for Kilroys morning snooze. Workmen are busy smoothing down the filings on our walls and rather than sit around in a cloud of white dust we decided to decamp!
He is enjoying his change of location!

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Clouds Saturday afternoon - no rain tho

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Kilroy on cat alert

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Kitchen area

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Looking regal

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Sunday - clouds back and look threatening

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Yep it's raining in August in North Cyprus!

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Kilroy enjoying his shower!

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Same view on Saturday afternoon looking to the coast.....strange weather

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View from garden patio...... house back to normal

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Kitchen area

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Sarah loves her hob!